Haq 'received U.S. assistance'

Abdul Haq

WASHINGTON (CNN) --Former Mujahedeen leader Abdul Haq requested and received U.S. assistance in his failed mission to convince several Taliban leaders to defect, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday

"The assistance, unfortunately, was from the air, and he was on the ground," Rumsfeld said on ABC's This Week. "And regrettably, he was killed."

Rumsfeld would not specify what kind of assistance Haq received, but he said it was not from the U.S. military.

"It was from another element of the government," he said.

A former U.S. government official who helped Haq arrange and finance his return to Afghanistan told CNN that his trip was coordinated with U.S. intelligence agencies as part of the effort to improve the fighting capabilities and coordination of opposition forces, and to try to persuade some Taliban forces to lay down their arms or defect to the opposition.

Haq was captured by the Taliban last week in Afghanistan and along with two others, was executed on Friday in Kabul, independent sources told CNN.

VIDEO

Some say 'yes,' some 'no' as to whether Taliban foe Abdul Haq was a spy. CNN's Rebecca Mackinnon hears the arguments (October 27)